Lee Brice Says Carly Pearce Duet 'I Hope You're Happy Now' Reminds Him of 'Classic Country' (Exclusive)

In September, Lee Brice and Carly Pearce released a duet, "I Hope You're Happy Now," which finds Pearce apologizing for breaking an ex's heart and wishing them happiness. Brice's character is on the receiving end of the breakup, the two singers' voices blending beautifully throughout the song as they wish each other well in their own way.

"She asked me would I ever wanted to duet with her and I said, 'Well I love her and I love what she does,' so I said, 'Send me the song,'" Brice told PopCulture.com of Pearce at the NASCAR Awards in Nashville. "And when she sent me the song, it reminded me of just classic duet, classic country, and that pulled me in very quickly."

Peace wrote the song with Luke Combs, Randy Montana, and Jonathan Singleton, and because Combs had his own album out and wanted the song to receive adequate promotion, he decided to step down and have the male part sung by another artist. Enter Brice, who shared that he was impressed by what he heard.

"It was written so well. And I'm a songwriter so I'm kind of hard on songs, but I was like, 'Man this thing is really written to the wall,'" Brice said. "So I said, 'Look, I'm on the road. I'm gonna have to do some singing out here if you want me to do it.' And they were cool with it, so I sent them a vocal and that's what you hear on the radio right now."

"I Hope You're Happy Now" will appear on Pearce's upcoming sophomore album, which is set for release on Feb. 14. The video for the song finds Pearce and Brice singing at a bar as actors live out the story described in the song, which was based on Pearce's real-life relationship before she began dating now-husband Michael Ray.

"I think this particular song is so crucial to so many relationships that I see, whether you're settling, or staying because it's comfortable, or staying because you're scared to be alone," Pearce told The Boot. "[I want to tell people in that situation] to jump, you know? And wish 'em well. And write songs about 'em, and then get Lee Brice to sing 'em!"

Photo Credit: Getty / Terry Wyatt